


Dark Queen

by SQing4ever



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), SwanQueen - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Prompt 2 Linked Minds, Soulmates, Swan Queen Week Summer 2018, The Dark One (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 06:28:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15943658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SQing4ever/pseuds/SQing4ever
Summary: Regina Mills is the Dark One; it was her choice to save Emma from being consumed by the darkness, and she does not regret it. She has no idea what she's gotten herself into as an unwanted acquaintance follows her around, mocking her, tormenting, pushing her to embrace what she is, and what she forever will be. Regina has hope, and it's in the form of Emma Swan, someone who loves her, and will never give up on her. The sacrifice they made for each other caused a connection that has never happened before, and now their minds are linked. Emma uses this new connection to keep Regina from slipping away and going completely dark.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is insanely late, but after the first chapter I knew it would be. It's longer than I thought it would be, but I am so glad I was actually able to keep my promise! This is a continuation from the first prompt (Fuck Destiny, I Choose You) inspired by Operation Mongoose 2. This is my version of the Dark Swan, but it's almost completely different, almost. I took some liberties with dialogue, a few lines from the original 'Dark Swan' episode, but mostly I've completely switched things around. The things that happen to Regina in this story are more intense, different. Her experience as the Dark One is not the same as Emma's in the "Dark Swan'. I'm still doing the whole Camelot thing, but it's completely different, mainly because I really didn't want to, but I felt it necessary.  
> I hope you enjoy this one as much as the first one. It's only rated M for language.

**Chapter 1: The New Dark One**

The well where all Dark Ones are born from, pools, and bubbles with an inky almost sticky like liquid, and from the liquid a new Dark One is born. The liquid takes the form of Regina Mills. She looks around and then down at herself. She's wearing an all too familiar outfit from her youth; a riding outfit, dark brown leather pants, a crisp white shirt, and matching leather vest, covered with a burgundy cloak-- Her hair in two French braids, laying long against her shoulders. The outfit seems to mock her as she recalls the memory of the last time she wore it; practicing dark magic with Rumpelstiltskin at her side, pushing her, causing rage to build so much inside of her she could have burned down a whole forest.

“This won’t due.” She says, and with a wave of her hand she transforms, and something more her, more black, wraps around her body. Leather pants, leather and suede sleeveless top, a thick braided leather belt around her waist, and solid silver beaded threw the material of the bottom of her top, keeping the material stitched together. There is a deep U shaped dip in her top, exposing a subtle amount of cleavage, not too much, but just enough so whoever looks upon her will yearn for just a little more. The ensemble is completed with knee high boots, finger-less gloves, that dress her arms an inch past her elbows and a long black cloak. There is a braid on left side of head, the rest of hair pinned in the back of her head. It’s a combination of who she is and who she use to be.

There is a sinister giggle behind her, a giggle she is all too familiar with. She turns to face the owner of the sound. She rolls her eyes. “I thought for sure you were dead or at least dying.”

He smiles at her, “lovely to see you to, Regina, or should I say, Dark One.” He smiles widely, and giggles, giddily.

Ugh, Regina does not miss this side of him. She glares at him. “What are you doing here, Rumpel?” She asks, as he circles her eyeing her up and down.

“Technically, I’m or he is not. He is back there and I am a manifestation of your imagination.”

Regina cocks an eyebrow in disbelief. “If I was going to use my imagination to manifest someone it would definitely not be you.” She tells him, and he just grins his little eerie grin, that still after all this time, gives her the heebie jeebies.

“Well, I’m afraid it’s not really up to you, dearie. ‘They’ or should I say ‘we’, the Dark Ones from the past, are all inside of you. I am just the most familiar to you, but if you prefer someone else, may I suggest Gorgon the Invincible?” He says, and transforms into a giant fire breathing boar.

Regina stands, unphased.

“No? Well, there is a bit of a language barrier there, so I shall resume as your guide.”

Regina crosses her arms, the Imp must be crazy if he thinks she’s going to let him follow her around. She’s sure if he is just a manifestation of her own imagination then she can be rid of him. “My guide? What makes you think I need a guide?”

He considers her a moment, and smirks. “I suppose you don’t, I see you’re already beginning to embrace the darkness.” He comments.

She furrows her brow. “What are talking about, you little Imp? I literally just got here.”

“And you’re already using your dark magic,” he says, gesturing to her clothing.

She looks down at herself and rolls her eyes. “I never needed to be the Dark One to change my attire, it’s a simple spell.”

“This is true, dearie, but you are now the Dark One and any and all magic you use is dark. The more you use it, the darker become. Look again,” he tells her and she looks down and sees the tan skin on her chest is covered in a light sheen of what looks to be sparkles. It’s not bad, looks like a little body shimmer, but then she looks up at Rumpelstiltskin, his creepy, yellowish, sparkly skin, and winces. She silently hopes her skin never looks like that.

He smiles at her, “it’s different for everyone, dearie,” he answers as if she asked him. She rolls her eyes, of course can read her mind. “The more magic you use, even for the simplest things, the darker you become.”

“Fine, then I guess I won’t be using magic again.” She says, and he laughs in her face.

“You think it’s that simple? You really should know better by now, after all you were the Evil Queen, your majesty.” Regina glares at him. “I know you feel it, the temptation, it beckons to you. You want to give in. It would be so easy.”

“I suppose so, too bad I’m not familiar with anything being easy for me. Everything I’ve ever done my entire life has been difficult. Resisting this, fighting it, it’s what’s most familiar to me.”

“It’ll hurt eventually.” He tells her, she turns and begins to walk away.

“I’m familiar with that too.”

* * *

 

The moment David releases her, she’s scrambles to the dagger, and snatched it from the ground. “Regina Mills!” She shouts, but nothing happens. The others look around, nothing. “Dammit! How does this even work?!” Emma shouts, shakes the dagger.

Snow comes to her daughter’s aid. “Let me see.” Snow takes the dagger from Emma. “Regina Mills, Dark One, I summon thee!” Snow shouts, but just as before nothing happens. “I don’t know what’s wrong, I should be able to summon the Dark One from any corner of this world with this dagger.” Snow tells her.

Emma takes the dagger back, closes her eyes and concentrates. She knows it’s a long shot, but something happened when Regina reached up and pulled the dagger out of her grasp, there was a spark of some form, she felt it the moment it hit her, it was brief and not worth worrying about considering the circumstances.

She sees a small green field, and trees. It’s a forest. The Enchanted Forest, she guesses. She feels Regina, and it’s surprisingly familiar; the immediate self-loathing, the regret, the pain, Emma feels it all. The anguish that is trying to be stomped down, but it remains. There is hope, very little, but it’s there. There is also love, so much love and it feels like it’s in an arm wrestling match with the all consuming darkness; no one is winning at the moment. Emma sees Rumpelstiltskin.

‘How the fuck is that possible?’ Emma thinks, and apparently so does Regina. He’s speaking, but Emma can’t hear anything. She can only see and feel, and what she feels at the moment is annoyance, and the desire to ring his little neck. There is also an uneasiness, not quite fear, but something else. Emma’s heart hurts. Regina thinks she deserves this.

It’s not Emma’s mother calling her name that breaks the connection but the tremble of her right hand as she drops the dagger to the ground. Her cheeks are warm and wet with fresh tears. She looks at her mother, with glassy eyes. “I know where Regina is, we have to get back to the apprentice.” Emma says, and picks the dagger back up with the same look of determination she had when she set forth to save Regina from being consumed by the darkness.

She ignores the voices of her parents, Hook, and Robin calling her, as she marches towards her destination. The others follow close behind. Emma swipes at her cheeks with right hand, wiping away fresh tears as she tries to push away the feeling that she has failed Regina. It’s not over yet, it’s not over until she has breathed her last breath.

The apprentice is where they left him, his condition the same, but he wakes for a moment when they approach him.

“The darkness, it took Regina. She’s in the Enchanted Forest.”

“Emma, you still haven’t told us how you know that.” Snow says.

Emma looks down at the dagger in her hand. “I don’t know,” she says, quietly. “Something happened, something strange. I can feel her, feel what she’s feeling, see what she sees.” She says, softly and looks down at the apprentice. “You have to bring me to her.” She pleads, and it’s not lost on her or the others that she said ‘me’ instead of us.

“I can’t. I’m too weak.” He tells them, his breathing labored. “But this will help,” he says, he closes and opens his left hand, and a wand appears. “This was given to me by Merlin, the day I became his apprentice. In it, is all the light magic.”

“It can bring me to Regina?” Emma asks.

“Us,” Snow corrects, and Emma looks at her. “We are in this together, okay?” Snow tells her, Emma nods, and turns back to the apprentice.

“It can’t bring you there on it’s own, it needs to be wielded as it was forged, with both sides of the coin. The light and the dark.” The apprentice says, closes his eyes, his grip on the wand is non existent, and it falls to the floor. Emma picks it up.

‘Fuck!’ Screams the voice in Emma’s head.

“We need Zelena,” Emma tells them, and she hates it. She hates that she has to turn to someone who’s a bigger ass then even Gold had been, but what choice does she have? She’s the only one with dark magic. Emma sighs hard, and turns to leave, dagger and wand in hand. Hook grabs her arm and stops her. She turns to him, brow furrowed in confusion, eyes widening, as if to ask, ‘ah, why the fuck are you stopping me?’

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, love? She’s not exactly Regina’s biggest fan.” He tells her and she knows this, but she hardly gives a shit.

“I need her dark magic to get to Regina.”

“Emma,” he says, softly and she pulls away, ignoring the hurt look in his eyes. Time is wasting.

* * *

 

Regina marches steadily onto a dirt road, she hears a scream, she quickens her pace, and comes upon a young girl, who is clearly being robbed and held against her will. The girl struggles, and screams- his hold tightens. “Release her.” Regina says, and her voice is an eerie calm. It half startles the man, enough for him to loosen his grip.

“Who’s going to make me? You?” He laughs.

Regina closes her eyes and takes a calming breath. She looks back at him. “I won’t tell you again,” she says, letting him know that she never asked, it wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order.

“And who are you, to tell me anything?”

“No one you want to know.” She tells him, and her words could not be truer.

He regards her, a cocky kind of smile on his face. “I’m not so sure about that,” he says tossing the young girl aside, he moves towards Regina.

“Stop,” she warns him, her voice firm and demanding, just as it was when she gave orders as the Evil Queen.

“Make me.” He responds, and so she does.

Her arm raises, hand holding nothing but air, but the man is no longer on the ground, his hands grasping his own neck, trying to release the hold there. She is choking him. There is a familiar snarl on her lips, a familiar glint in her eyes, her heart is racing.

“Well, are you going to kill him or what, dearie?” Regina’s hold tightens and the man is on the verge of passing out, but something inside her makes her stop and she snaps out of her magical trans. She sighs, and releases her hold on the man. He falls to the ground, and gasps for air. He scrambles back.

“Witch!” He yells, and she rolls her eyes, marches forward, and kicks him hard in the face. He passes out.

She looks down at him. “You should have done what you were told.” She snatches the satchel he had thrown over his shoulder. She walks over to the young girl, she’s in shock, her mouth agape, blue eyes wide and glistening. Regina holds out the bag. “I believe this belongs to you.” She says, and it takes a minute for the young girl to snap out of it, but when she does, she smiles brightly at Regina, and for a second, just one second, Regina’s heart feels light and free of burden.

Of course that doesn’t last long, because there is an ass following her around.

“You know, dearie, using dark magic to do good is still using dark magic.” Rumpelstiltskin tells her. She ignores him like she didn’t hear him.

The girl takes the bag from Regina. “Thank you.” The girl says, and she beams at Regina. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“She doesn’t even know the half it.” Rumpelstiltskin says, she ignores him, still.

“I require no repayment.” Regina tells her.

“Is what that awful man called you true? Are you a witch?” The girl asks, and Regina wants to tell her yes, but that isn’t exactly the truth anymore. She’s much more dangerous.

Regina regards the girl for a moment. “You said before that you don’t know how you’ll ever repay me, I can tell you how.”

“But you said-“

“Go home, tell no one about me or what I did for you, just go home.” Regina tells her.

The girl nods her head, “as you wish, thank you again.” She turns and jogs away. Regina watches her go.

“Very clever, dearie. All magic comes with a price.”

“She never asked me to save her.”

“But you did, and you used magic, a debt must be paid, and you knew that, which is why you asked for payment. Nice loophole, I’m impressed. You do know once she breaks her word and tells someone about you, her fate is sealed.”

“She won’t.”

“Ah… faith. So you do have it.”

Regina ignores him and continues her walk up the path. The man she kicked, still lay unconscious in the middle of the road.

“Do you really expect to just be able to wander around the land and not use magic at all? You weren’t even in this realm a full minute before you used magic.”

“Yes, and that was my mistake, but that won’t happen again.”

“And when you come across another person in distress?”

Regina waves her hands frantically in front of her and says, “maybe I’ll just try the whole ‘kick’em in the face’ thing, and not use magic.”

“You are aware that because you’re the Dark One you have unimaginable strength. That’s magic, dearie.”

Shit shit shit, and fuck you very much.

She doesn’t even have to turn to him to know he’s grinning at her. Bastard.

“Such language, Regina.”

“Must you keep following me?” Her tone beyond annoyed.

“Not enjoying my company, dearie?”

“Not particularly.”

“I always loved your sass, well there is a remedy, do you wish to hear it?” He asks. She stops and waits. “Say please.” He says. She clenches her jaw and marches forward. There is no way in hell he's going to get her to beg. “Alright, alright. I can see I’ve went too far. I’ll tell you. It’s simple really, as soon as you accept being the Dark One I will vanish.”

She turns to him, nostrils flaring. “What do you mean? I have accepted it, and I have no plans of doing anything about it, as if I could, the dagger isn’t even in this realm.”

“No you haven’t. Knowing what you are is not the same as accepting it. When you held that man, your magic strangling the life out of him, it felt good didn’t it? It felt familiar.” Regina didn’t answer. She turns and continues. “I’ll tell you what dearie, tell me how it felt and I promise I’ll go and I won’t bother you again.” He tells her, and his face is serious, his hands clasped in front of him as he waits for her response.

She turns to him. “Fine! It felt incredible, absolutely delicious, and so very familiar, almost like coming home. I felt the power pulsating through every inch of me, and it would have been so easy to take his life. Happy?”

“Delighted!” He claps his hands, and she is sure he’s going to put his fingers in his mouth and whistle. He doesn’t, instead he says, “one more question, why didn’t you take his life?”

“Because that feeling that was like coming home, it was to a home I no longer dwell in. I’m not her, I’m not the Evil Queen, not anymore.”

“Of course not, dearie. You’re so much worse.” He tells her, a delightful grin on his face that she just wants to smack off.

“I believe we had a deal, be gone now, Imp.”

“Oh yes that, well that, my dearie was a lie.”

“What?”

“I heard love can make you soft but I wasn’t aware it made you dumb. I’m a manifestation of your imagination!” He giggles and she wants to punch him. “You believe Rumpelstiltskin to be a lying, manipulative, conniving, treacherous son-of-a-bitch, and I am his duplicate, why would I ever be different? I’m not even physically real, I can’t make promises.” He giggles again, and Regina growls in frustration and marches away. “Oh cheer up, dearie. I’m certain you’ll give in soon. The darkness is irresistible after all.”

“Been there, done that, moving on.”


	2. Dark Temptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Regina deals with Rumpelstiltskin constantly annoying her, and the darkness tempting her, calling to her, Emma attempts to recruit Zelena's aid. Regina is nearly captured by the darkness, but her magical link to Emma has her resisting falling completely.

Emma opens the door to Zelena’s padded cell in the psych ward in the hospital. The five of them enter the room, and Zelena is sitting on her cot indian style, holding a meditation pose.

She doesn’t open her eyes. She smiles. “Visitors, how lovely, but as you can see I’m otherwise engaged, come back another time. You’re messing up my chi.”

Emma rolls her eyes. “Zelena.”

“Savior.” She answers, eyes still closed.

Robin takes this opportunity to speak, “we need your help.”

“Oh?” Zelena says, intrigued, and Emma looks at him as if to say ‘who told you to speak?’ It didn’t go unnoticed by anyone.

“Regina is the Dark One.” Robin tells her and Emma gives him a look like she wants to slap him upside his head, and she actually makes a move to do so until her father catches her and lowers her arm, shaking his head. Emma wasn’t going to divulge that information, she was just going to tell her she needed her to help open a portal, make a deal or something. Telling her that Regina is the Dark One was never on her to do list.

It was a stupid idea, and of course Robin thought of it.

Idiot. Fucktard.

The urge to hit him resurfaces, but she shakes her head.

“How pray tell did that happen?”

“Long story, we need you to help open a portal.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere, dear, I’m afraid I’m in it for the long haul, so I’ve got time.”

“Well, I don’t, and neither does Regina, so are you going to help us or what?”

Zelena took a moment to regard her. “Are you not strong enough, savior?” Zelena says, playfully, eyes blinking, and eyelashes fluttering.

Oooo the only thing that was keeping her from being punched in the face is the fetus growing inside of her. She is one lucky bitch.

Emma sighs, already exasperated by this woman. “I need dark magic.”

“I see,” Zelena says, and rolls up her sleeves. “Okay, just take this charming little bracelet off, and I’ll be well on my way to helping you get to my dear sister.”

Robin makes a move to release her and David pulls him back. “How can we be sure we can trust her?” He asks.

“Excuse me? Motherhood has changed me, I’ve turned over a new leaf.” Zelena says, and Emma recognizes when someone is layering on the bullshit thick. Her lie detector is pinging like crazy. She wants to say, ‘fuck you, Zelena’, and walk away, but she needs this huge pain in the ass’es help. She hands the dagger and wand over to her mother.

“Leave us for a bit.” She tells them.

“Emma,” Hook begins, but she halts his words with a look that leaves no room for argument. Hook is the first to turn and leave. She’s hurt him, she knows, but she didn’t have the room to care at the moment, there were more important matters, like getting to Regina.

“Don’t do anything without us, honey.” Snow says, and she nods in agreement.

“I won’t.” She gives her parents a small smile and they leave her to it. Robin stays, he crosses his arms, and glares at Zelena. Emma looks at him curiously, tilting her head to the side a bit.

How dense is this asshole? “Give us,” Emma gestures between her and Zelena, “a bit.” He makes no move, but looks at her curiously. She rolls her eyes. “Of time. Alone.”

“Oh… I don’t think that’s a good idea, Emma. I think you should let me stay just in case she tries something.” He tells her, and she rolls her eyes.

And what exactly was he going to do if she did? Dumb ass…

“I’m sure I’ll be okay, because you know, I have magic and all, and she’s pretty much useless with the cuff on.” She tells him.

The cuff his ass was so eager to remove a minute ago, and now he’s worried about her safety for some reason.

Emma opens the door for him, and gestures for him to get the fuck out. He does, but doesn’t look happy about, and Emma has no fucks to give him on his way out.

“You don’t like him do you?” Zelena asks her.

“Nope!” Emma tells her, because what’s the point in keeping up the act now. She can’t stand him, and she doesn’t think he’s good enough for Regina. Emma hops up next to Zelena.

“Good.” Zelena says.

“Let’s cut to the chase, Zelena. What do you want? What can I do for you to get your help? And not just any kind of help, but the kind of help that won’t inevitably bite us all on the ass because you'er just as manipulative as that shithead Gold and your piece of shit mom.” Emma tells her, she had meant to say, ‘piece of work mom’ like she called her to Regina, but for some reason piece of shit seemed more fitting, so she said it; no regrets.

Zelena hums, “seems your savior complex has you in very desperate situation, especially if your negotiating with me.”

“This is not me being the savior, I just, Henry needs his mother.” Emma tells her, and they both roll their eyes, because who is she kidding, hiding behind the kid again, but Zelena doesn’t need to know the real reason, she just needs to open the portal.

“Tell me how it happened first.”

“Time is of the essence, Zelena.”

“Then I suggest you get to the story, Emma. Tell me and I’ll tell you what I want in return for helping you.”

“Fine.” So Emma tells her, leaving out the whole confession of love stuff, because well, Zelena doesn’t need that ammo. Unfortunate for Emma, Zelena is not half as clueless as she thinks she is.

Zelena is quiet for a second and then she clasps her hands together. “So, do you love her too?” Zelena asks. Emma’s mouth falls open in shock, and Zelena closes it for her, there is a knowing smile on her face but Emma won’t fall for it. She hops up, all ready to get defensive.

“What? Nah… what?” Emma feels stupid, this is not what she wants to say. She schools her features and takes a deep breath. “Regina is my friend, we’ve come a long way, and we’ve had our differences in the past, but for the sake of our son we’ve decided to put those difference aside so that we can co parent amicably.” Emma tells her, and she is so full of shit she wonders if her eyes are brown instead of their usual green, but it was an argument that Regina would have made; not to Zelena, she’s far too petty to have an adult conversation with her wicked big sister about anybody, but to someone else, Emma wasn’t sure who, but someone. Anyway, she thought she at least sounded like Regina.

“So you’re trying to tell me, you sacrificed yourself for Regina and was well on your way to becoming the Dark One, leaving Regina behind with her soulmate and her son, and she then turns the tables by taking the dagger back so she could be the Dark One, after years of trying to prove herself, to Henry, to you, to everyone that she can change, that she has changed all because you two are what, besties? I call bullshit.”

Emma glares at her. “Regina never said that she loves me, she has Robin, and he’s her soulmate.” Emma says, and her tongue tastes nasty after saying that.

Zelena laughs, she laughs hard and Emma hates her.

“Can you just fucking tell me what you want?” Emma demands, she is beyond frustrated with Zelena.

“I want my freedom.”

“Sure, no problem, open the portal and you can go free.”

“I mean really free, like free from all of this, and I want to take my baby with me.”

“Say what now?”

“You heard me, Savior. I want to leave and take my baby with me and I don’t want any of you coming after me. She’s all I have and I won’t lose her to.”

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Not easy!

“Yeah, ahm… about that.” Emma scratches the back of her neck, nervously. “You see I think Regina and probably nature boy back there will go apeshit if I agree to that.”

“Well that sounds a lot like your problem and not mine.” Zelena says, and Emma really hates her again, but she kind of understands her to, at least where she’s coming from, but that’s not just her kid, it’s Robin’s too, and Robin deserves to be in his kid’s life. He’s a good dad, maybe, kind of, Emma doesn’t really know. She just has no real reason to believe he isn’t, but she still kind of wants to say ‘fuck him, go raise your kid’, but she can’t and not just because Regina would flat out destroy her happiness, but because this baby deserves their best chance, and Emma isn’t sure Zelena is it.

“Let me get back to you on that.” Emma tells her.

“You do that, Savior.” Zelena says, and returns to her meditation.

Emma paces the floor on psych ward, she runs her fingers through hair over and over, so much so that she knows she losing a bit of it. Nurse Ratchet, watches her with a raised eyebrow, she shakes her head, and looks back down at her paperwork like always; though Emma believes she's not reading her paperwork at all, but doing a crossword, or reading a gory novel, or perhaps a romance novel; for all she knows that nurse could be playing candy crush on a well hidden cell phone.

Emma shakes her head, okay back to business. She sighs, loudly. She just knows everyone is up there waiting for her to tell them that she had convinced Zelena to help. They are all up there expecting her to have some heroic plan, because she’s the savior, and she’s Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, and they’re heroes…. Yeah so why the hell aren’t they coming up with some grand plan to rescue Regina. Emma rolls her eyes at herself, having a mental temper tantrum isn’t going to help anyone. She heads upstairs, and they are there as she predicted, waiting, expectantly.

“Is she going to help?” It’s Snow that asks first.

“Yeah, about that, she kinda had some… conditions.”

“What kind of conditions?” This question comes from her dad.

“Her freedom for one.” Emma tells them.

“Sure, fine, what else?” Robin asks, and Emma wants to laugh because who the hell does he think he is? He has zero say on whether or not Zelena is released. Zero.

Emma looks to her parents. “For Regina, we can agree to that, hopefully we don’t regret it later.” Snow says. “What are the other conditions?”

“She wants the baby, to raise them, alone with no interference from anyone. She wants to get away from all of this.”

“No.” Is Robin’s response, and Hook quickly agrees, and Emma wonders why, because when did Hook care about anything that had to do with Robin?

Anyway, Emma looks to her parents. Snow shakes her head in the negative, David looks at Snow and promptly agrees with her. “Renegotiate, that baby deserves her best chance and Zelena isn’t it.” Snow says, and the others nod in agreement.

Emma shifts from one foot to the other. “Look, I get where you’re coming from Zelena’s a hot mess, and she’s done some wicked awful shit, but that doesn’t mean she’s gonna be a bad parent, maybe with this kid she has something to prove, something good, something that’s a part of her. Maybe if no one threatened to just rip the kid from her the moment they were born she would be more inclined to share, but unfortunately the do over button has already been used.”

“What are you saying, sweetheart? Do you want to agree to Zelena’s conditions?”

“I’m saying, that though I understand how you guys feel, I also sympathize with Zelena. She was raised by parents who didn’t support who she truly was, who didn’t love her, and her biological parents were just as fucked up, Zelena had nobody and then throw Gold, Rumpelstiltskin into the picture and surprise, surprise another horrible person is born. I keep thinking that what if Rumpelstiltskin had gotten to me the way he got to Regina and Zelena, it could have easily been me that went dark.”

“Emma,” David starts, and Emma knows he’s about to argue.

“Wait, just listen for a minute; Zelena was desperate for attention and affection and it was used against her, she had to live with the knowledge that her mother gave her up but kept her sister. Can you even imagine what that feels like, knowing that you were not wanted, abandoned? I know.” Emma tells them, and she can see her moms eyes pooling with tears, she can see the regret there.

“Emma,” Snow sobs, and David wraps an arm around her.

“Emma, it was different for you,” David starts, but Emma interrupts.

“Why because my parents are good, because they are heroes? I didn’t know that, all I know is that other kids were being adopted and I was left behind. No one wanted me, and it wasn’t even like it got any better when I got older. If anything it got worse because I found out that I was found on the side of the road. The story I made up to comfort me, to keep me hopeful, the story that it was all just some horrible mix up and my parents loved me and were searching for me; all went up in smoke. I mean what kind of monsters leave their kid on the side of the road? And yeah, now I know that wasn’t the case but I didn’t then, so it hurt. It hurt a lot, so I really kind of understand what Zelena has been through. Just because she’s had shitty parents doesn’t mean she’ll be one. Look at how well Regina had raised Henry, she could have easily done the same thing her mother did to her, to him, but she didn’t and Henry is a great kid.”

“Still, giving up my child is not an option.” Robin says, and Emma already knows, but she was hoping to maybe come to some sort of agreement where there could perhaps start with some sort of shared custody. It’s not exactly what Zelena is asking for but it seems a bit more fair.

“I’m not suggesting that, I was hoping for some kind of shared custody agreement, maybe you go talk to her and convince her that you have no intentions of taking her kid away from her or turning them against her, maybe then she’ll be a bit more reasonable.”

“You mean, lie?” He asks, and Emma wants to put hands on him again.

Emma’s patience is wearing too thin and she suspects she’ll be screaming any second now. “No, don't lie, be a mature human being. Don’t assume that cutting Zelena completely out that kid’s life is what’s best.” Emma says, and Robin crosses his arms in defiance.

Ugh!

Emma takes the dagger away from her mother and storms off, she can hear them call after her but she ignores them. She enters a restroom and closes herself inside a stall. She looks down at the dagger, her fingers lightly move across the inscription on the dagger. It should have been her name is what she thinks as a single tear slides down her right cheek. She closes her eyes and thinks of Regina, and just as before, her mind connects with Regina’s and she can see and feel everything Regina can.

Holy shit

Emma is engulfed with the most satisfying feeling she has ever felt, it’s intoxicating, addictive, and then she sees a man dangling in thin air, hands clasped around his throat. His face a dark red with a tint of blue, he is well on his way to passing out. She knows that with just a little bit more pressure Regina could probably crush his throat completely and kill him, she gets this thought from Regina, and she feels the excitement in it. “No! Don’t do it.” Emma says out loud, and as if Regina had heard her, the man drops to the ground gasping for air. Now Emma is filled with a completely different emotion; disappointment. Not the kind of disappointment she would have expected after being filled with so much satisfaction only for it to me taken away, no this was self disappointment.

There was another way, Regina could have just knocked the man unconscious or sent him somewhere else, but she gave into the temptation, the desire to strike fear, to cause pain. Emma drops the dagger and moves to hunch over the toilet, losing whatever she happened to eat this morning.

‘Fuck’, Emma wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, flushes the toilet, grabs the dagger, and leaves the stall. She looks at her reflection in the mirror, there is a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, her skin was a shade or two paler, her cheeks flushed. ‘That was intense’, Emma thinks as she washes her hands and rinses her mouth out. She takes a deep breath and leaves the bathroom.

Emma had decided she would do whatever she needed to do to get to Regina. There was no way she was going to let her walk this path alone. Emma spots her father silently talking to Hook, his hand on the former pirates shoulder. She eyes them curiously before seeking out her mother. She finds her in the waiting room, her left knee jumping impatiently. She hops up once she sees Emma.

“Where’s Robin?” Emma asks, but doesn’t really care because it seemed as though he would be absolutely no use to her not even for Regina.

“We convinced him to go and talk to Zelena, see if they could come to an agreement about the baby.”

Emma’s brow furrows. “Okay,” she nods once, “good, Ima go see how that’s going.” Emma heads back to the basement of the hospital, passes Nurse Ratchet’s desk, and heads to Zelena’s room. She spots Robin knocked out on the floor, and Zelena nowhere in sight.

Shit

She checks Robin’s pulse, it’s strong, he just looks like he’s taking a nap, and she has no plans to wake him. She dashes back up the stairs and immediately heads for her mother. “Zelena’s gone, I need the wand.”

“Where’s Robin?” Snow asks her.

“She knocked him out.”

“And you just left him?!” Snow exclaims, and Emma just shrugs.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She takes the wand from her mother and turns to leave.

“Emma, where are you going?” Snow asks.

“To see Mother Superior, we need to find Zelena.”

* * *

 

Regina’s at her wits end, beside the constant annoyance of Rumpelstiltskin’s voice saying anything and everything trying to provoke her into giving into using her magic, there are the voices, the whispers in her ear. She’s not afraid, she’s lived with guilt and regret for years, and no one's voice has been a bigger burden than her mother’s, telling her ‘Love is weakness’ and calling her foolish; though these voices she hears now are not quite as heavy as her mother’s, or her own voice, but they are fairly annoying and she just wishes they would just shut the hell up.

“They never leave you, you know. The voices, it’s a Dark One thing, a ‘cursed for eternity’ kind of thing.”

Regina rolls her eyes. “So this is what you’ve been hearing all these years? No wonder why you’re batshit crazy.”

“I prefer, eccentric, dearie.” Rumpelstiltskin tells her, and he’s grinning again.

“And I prefer you shut the hell up, but we both know that’s never going to happen.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed, Regina. I thought you’d enjoy the company.”

Regina stops abruptly and turns toward Rumpelstiltskin. “How long do I have?” She asks him.

He smiles brightly. “For what, dearie?”

“Don’t mess with me, Rumpel, you know what I’m talking about. I can already feel it a little.”

“Oh, yes, you mean the pain? I don’t know, it’s different for every Dark One. Very few have deliberately tried to fight the darkness, so they never experienced much pain.”

“But you have, haven’t you, for Belle?” Regina asks, and for the first time Rumpelstiltskin face falls, and Regina wonders how much is true about him being a manifestation of her imagination.

“Well yes, I supposed I did for some time attempt to fight it.” He tells her. “It was far more than painful, it was frightening, and nearly drove me to madness, beyond my particular brand of ‘madness’.”

“How long did you last?”

“3 Days.” He answers.

Shit, Regina is already feeling a slight gnawing pain in the pit of her stomach, like she's starving, but no food can satisfy the ache. “How’d you last so long? You were pretty corrupted with darkness by then.”

“I think you already know the answer to that.” He tells her.

She stares blankly at him for a second before it hits her, ‘love’ she thinks, and he nods. Regina’s mind immediately recalls her mother’s words.

“She wasn’t wrong, you know. Love is weakness, but not the way she tried to pound the theory into your head. Love weakens the darkness, especially true love. Love is not a desirable emotion for a person to have when they’re walking the path of darkness. Your mother put her heart in a box for a reason, dearie. There was no going back for her.”

Regina pauses to absorb his words. “Why are you telling me this? Isn’t it your goal to make me give into the darkness?”

“I can’t make you do anything, dearie. When it happens it will be your decision.”

“It wasn’t really my decision the first time, now was it?”

“Sure it was.” He says, and grins again. “You didn’t have to do all the naughty things you did. You could have turned the other cheek but in the end your need for vengeance, for power surpassed any goodness you had left in you.”

“You, and mother, you lied to me! You manipulated and used me to fulfill your own desires. I never wanted to be that person. I never wanted to be the Evil Queen!”

“And yet you were, and now you’re the Dark One. Another thing you chose to be.” He says, and she has to try not to wince because she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how badly he just stung her.

“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

She rolls her eyes; ‘figures’.

“What do you know about truth? All you’ve ever done is twist the truth to your advantage.”

“I won’t disagree with that. You know, trust and truth go hand in hand, I did what I had to do for you to trust me. Betraying you was just a side effect. Don’t get me wrong I had every intention of betraying you, I was the Dark One after all.”

She glares at him, and in that moment she wishes he was flesh and blood so she could rip him a new one.

He smiles his hideous smile. “Oh don’t worry, dearie, you’ll soon understand once you let go and give in.”

“That’s not happening.”

“No? How can you be so sure?”

“Because I have no agenda. You did, for as long as you were the Dark One you were always seeking something, knowledge about your birth, the desire for vengeance because of your wife’s betrayal, the desire to reunite with your son, and there was Belle. In the end what you wanted the most you lost. Because bad guys never get their happy ending.” She turns away from him and continues to walk.

“That’s very good, Regina. Very insightful, but you’re a fool if you think for one second that there is nothing in this world you desire.”

“You’re right, I desire you to go away,” she throws over her shoulder.

He appears in front of her blocking her path. “Emma Swan,” he says, and grins knowingly.

Regina had wondered how long it would take before he pushed that particular button. She takes a deep breath and steps around him. “Big deal. I desired a lot of things in my lifetime and I’ve lived this long without getting them.” Regina’s says, and she hates how much her heart aches from saying it out loud.

It’s true, she had desired a mother who loved her, and had it for about five seconds before the woman died. She had desired to runaway and live happily with her true love, and was so close to succeeding until her mother literally crushed that desire to dust. She had desired to bring him back and did all she could and thought she succeeded only to find out it wasn’t ‘her Daniel’ but a monster. Henry had been the only thing she desired that she actually got, and even that had been snatched away at some point. That had been the most painful, of everything she ever desired and lost, losing her son was by far the worst possible pain. It had been nearly unbearable. She knows she lost him again, but this time it’s her choice, it’s for the greater good, he has Emma and his grandparents, he’ll be safe and happy and grow up to be a wonderful human being without her. It aches, the knowledge that she’ll never see him again, that she won’t see him grow into the man she’d always hoped he’d be.

Regina doesn’t feel cheated, she knows she made the right decision. It was more than just saving Emma because she…

Regina gulps at the thought.

She loves Emma Swan, and everything just suddenly feels like a lie she’s been trying to make into a truth. She also did it for Henry, possibly for Snow and David; as an afterthought.

“You know she’ll come for you.”

“She’d be an idiot if she does.” Regina says, and rolls her eyes because yeah, Emma Swan is an idiot, an idiot who loves her. She’ll come, Regina knows she will, and she’s not sure if she loves her more for it or if she’ll strangle her.

* * *

 

Emma isn’t surprised at all when she finds Zelena in the middle of town holding her son hostage, Zelena is so predictable.

“Good afternoon, Savior, lovely day isn’t it?” She takes a deep breath, “nice day for a little realm hop, now hand me the wand, dear.”

“Zelena, you know you’re kinda making it a little hard to believe your gonna be a good mother to this baby, kidnapping a kid and all.”

“The wand, for your son’s life.” Zelena says, and Emma thinks Zelena just never learns, she’s just as stubborn as Regina with just a little drop of ‘total dumb ass’ which Emma really appreciates.

“Are you sure we can’t work this out?” Emma asks, and she’s playing it up with the emotion in her voice. “Please, it doesn’t have to be like this.” Emma sees Zelena soften and she looks as if she might let Henry go, but then she sees Robin approaching at full speed.

“Don’t don’t do it Emma! You’ll never get my baby, Zelena!” He yells, and Emma has the desire to trip him, but she grabs him and yanks him back.

Zelena’s grip on Henry tightens. “No, you’ll never get my baby. The wand, Emma.” Zelena is pissed now and Emma knows there will be no negotiations after all.

She looks over at her parents. “We’ll find another way.” Snow says, and nods.

Emma looks at Robin and glares. Fuckboy. She reluctantly gives the wand to Zelena and the witch releases Henry. Emma wraps her arms around her son and hugs him tight, she gestures for him to go to his grandparents.

“Now what?” Emma asks, but she already knows the answer.

Zelena pulls out a necklace and twirls the wand around it then points the wand to the sky, creating a storm. “Now, I hitch a ride far, far away from here, where I can be free to raise my child and no one can turn them against me.” Zelena looks up at the sky pleased with the storm she created, wand still held in the direction of the storm, then suddenly she’s zapped, and Emma rushes forward to slip the power binding cuff back on Zelena’s wrist, and Hook grabs and holds her. Emma pauses briefly because she hadn’t been aware he had followed her and her parents. She shrugs.

“What just happened?” Snow asks her daughter.

“Had a quick chat with Mother Superior and the apprentice, fixed the wand with a little something something that would drain her power once she used the wand.” Emma says, and looks from her mother to Zelena. “I wanted you to surprise me, to prove me wrong, but somehow I knew you wouldn’t.” Emma says, and she notices a glimmer of regret mixed with sadness in Zelena’s icy blue eyes. She turns back to her parents, “we gotta hurry, that storms on the move.”

They all had gather at Granny’s dinner where preparations have been made for the trip.

“It’s not going to work you know, that’s storms going to bring her to Oz.” Zelena tells them, and she’s not as snide about it as Emma expects her to be.

“No it isn’t.” Emma says and pulls a ring out of the left pocket of her jeans. Snow glances into the palm of Emma’s hand, and sees the gold band.

“Is that?”

“Daniel’s ring,” Emma finishes, “yeah, it was either this or her favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's. This seemed like the more logical choice.”

“Good thinking,” Snow comments.

“Let’s do this.” Emma says and she concentrates as she swirls the wand around the ring. It glows, and suddenly the whole dinner is shaking. “Hold on!” Emma yells and she grabs Henry, one arm holding him, the other holding on to the counter, as they’re all swept away into a humongous tornado.


	3. The War Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Regina discovers a way of drowning out the voices in her head, the darkness inside plays an unexpected hand that sends Regina in to painful memories of her past, reminding her of who she use to be. The darkness is tapping into her to past, trying to reunite Regina with her evil self. Emma's link to Regina's mind causes her to pulled into the middle of a memory that Regina is most ashamed of.  
> An answer to Regina's problem surfaces and she is well on her way to rid herself of the darkness growing exponentially inside of her, but will her past misdeeds get in her way, and cause her to fall deeper into the darkness, or will her connection to Emma be enough to save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter for this prompt; it's longer because I couldn't figure out a particular spot where I could break it up without adding to it. Turns out it's more like a long one shot rather then a multi chapter fic, I still typed 63 pages.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's my favorite of the three.

Regina walks with no desired destination in mind. She walks and she lets her mind wander a bit, filling with thoughts of Emma and Henry; it’s soothing, and the voices she hears in her head drown a little.

“That’s a nasty habit, Regina, and it will only lead to heartache. I recommend you pick a different hobby, perhaps baking? You like to cook, don’t you?” Rumpelstiltskin asks, but she knows he already knows the answer. He’s in her head, feeding off her every thought to try to provoke her.

“Leave me alone, Imp.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, dearie. Anyway, have you ever tried to spindle? Now that’s very cathartic.”

She stops and turns to him. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t want me to hold on to love, or to hope, because you know it’s what’s going to keep me from giving into the darkness.”

“You’re not completely wrong, Regina. I just thought you might enjoy taking the shorter road for once, because the path you’re on now is hard and painful. It will destroy what you love most, it always does, and it does it slowly and painfully.”

“Well, I’m kind of use to that.”

“You only think you are, but I assure you, dearie you have no idea what you are in for.”

“Emma will find a way, she always does, we always do.”

“She’ll fail. It’s inevitable. The only way to end this is for her to run you through with the dagger and we both know she won’t be doing that.”

“There is another way, there has to be.” Regina whispers, she doesn’t sound hopeful but she knows she can’t stop believing because once she does…

“Perhaps.” He says, and Regina is drawn from her thoughts.

“What? Do you know something? Tell me.”

“Why would you believe me if I told you?”

“Why would you insinuate if It is a lie? Why not let me have false hope?”

“All good questions.” He says and circles her, thoughtfully. “You know there’s always true love’s kiss, Robin is your soulmate, is he not?” Regina stomach flips, it doesn’t fill true anymore, it never really did, but she had wanted it, well at least she convinced herself it’s what she wanted. Fairy dust had told her they belonged together, and now Regina finds herself not really caring what fairy dust led her to believe. It was a lie, and still, up to this very moment it feels like a lie, the biggest lie she ever tried to convince herself was true. Her heart longs for Emma, and it’s the truest feeling she has ever felt.

“It isn’t considered a curse if you chose it unknowingly, and you know that.”

“Yes, yes I do. I was just curious to see what you would say, curious about Robin.”

“Forget it, if there is another way I will find out for myself. I don’t need you.” She walks away, dramatically.

“Excalibur.” He tells her, and she stops in her tracks but doesn't turns around. “The dagger was made from its blade, if you reunite the dagger with the sword the light magic that illuminates from it can draw the darkness inside of it and trap it there.”

Regina turns to Rumpelstiltskin. “What’s the catch? Why would you even give me this knowledge?” Regina is skeptical, she’s fell for Rumpelstiltskin's lies before, she knows him well enough to be weary of anything he tells her.

“You think I’m telling you something new? It’s already in your mind, Regina. If you listen you can hear it. All the Dark Ones possess this knowledge, but none of them ever had the desire to rid themselves of the power once they had a taste of it. Those who've tried have failed, and you will too.”

“Listen you little monster, you have no idea what I’m capable of—” she says, standing inches away from him, a snarl in her lips, and a look of intimidation in her eyes. He laughs at her, a hardy, manic laugh.

“But I do, dearie. I certainly do, the darkness could have went after anyone, but it chose you. It wanted you, because there is nothing sweeter than re-corrupting someone on the path to redemption. If anyone was going to be my predecessor, I would have chosen you. Your dark heart, the power you possessed, the havoc you spread,” he says, sounding teary-eyed, “it was inspirational. It did a Dark One’s heart proud.

” “You don’t have a heart.” Regina spits, she turns away from him again.

“You wound me,” he says, feigning hurt. She rolls her eyes and continues walking.

* * *

 

Regina freezes as an old memory resurfaces, her brow furrows, and she is filled with so much resentfulness and bitterness she can barely stand, the pressure from the weight of it all brings her to her knees.

It’s the Evil Queen’s day of execution, her day of execution. It’s so clearly played out, she shakes as she tries to push away the memory.

“Are you doing this?” Regina asks, her face contorts as if she’s in unimaginable pain.

“No, dearie, you’re doing this. Stop fighting the darkness and it will stop fighting you.” Rumpelstiltskin tells her.

Regina still can’t break herself out of the memory. She’s saying her final words, recalling all her horrible deeds, and then saying how she regrets not inflicting more pain. Regina could feel the rage building. Part of her welcomed death, the end to her pain and part of wanted more time. She wanted a second chance at her revenge.

“Stop it!” Regina screams.

“Only you can stop it.”

“Why is this happening?!” Regina shouts, there is fear in her voice because she knows the moment she stops fighting, the moment she wraps herself around that memory the darker she’ll become.

“The longer you resist the more your memories will trigger. The darkness wants to remind you who you are.” He tells her, and it hurts enough for her to believe it’s true.

_‘But it’s not! It’s not you. You are not her. You are better than her, you are stronger than her.’_

“Emma?” Regina can hear her voice, she can feel her emotions, and that’s what blocks the memory. Regina gathers herself, gets back on her feet and wipes away the tears she wasn’t aware she shed. “Emma!” She shouts but she gets no answer. She looks at Rumpelstiltskin, and he looks just as confused as she feels her. “I heard Emma.” She tells him.

“So she’s made it.” He says, but the confusion doesn’t leave his features.

“What?” Regina snaps.

“How are you still here?” He asks.

“What do you mean? Where else should I be?”

“If you heard her, she must have summoned you, how are you still here? No Dark One can refuse a summons by someone who holds the dagger.”

“She never summoned me.”

Rumpelstiltskin looks more confused.

“You’re not telling me something, what is it?” Regina asks him.

“Well, usually you’re only able to hear people who call upon you without using the dagger when you’ve fully embraced the darkness. You haven’t quite done that yet. Tell me what exactly happened?”

“You mean you don’t know? Aren’t you in my head?” Regina snarks.

“Yes, but my abilities are limited to what you think, the whispers in your head, not anyone else’s. I can’t hear or sense anything that your own mind hasn’t created, well unless it’s right in front of you, and clearly Ms. Swan is not.”

“I heard her voice speaking to me, helping me. I felt her hope, the faith she had in me, the love she feels for me.” She tells him, and she can’t help but notice the troubled expression on his face. “You have no clue how that’s possibly do you?” She asks him, he doesn’t answer her.

“If she’s here then you must want to go to her.”

“I don’t know exactly where she’s at, and even if I did I would never use magic to get to her.” She tells him.

“The longer you resist the more painful it will be.” He tells her again, like it will make a difference.

Regina knows pain, it’s been her companion for many years, she’s pretty sure she’d be a little lost without it. The self-loathing, the regret that Regina had always stomped down or pushed to the back of her mind was now at the forefront of it. It’s one thing for Emma to know about what happened between Regina and Snow, and it’s another to see it first hand. She knew that when Emma went back in time she had encountered the Evil Queen, and she saw things, saw the things Regina had been capable of, but Emma had only seen a glimpse, and that was nothing compared to the horrible things she’s done and planned on doing.

Emma had seen her at one of lowest points, she was being given a chance to redeem herself, to make amends, she was being shown compassion but her dark heart wouldn’t allow her to change course. She had meant what she said in that moment, and she felt all the hate and bitterness her former self felt, and now reflecting on it, she simple just feels sorry. She feels so sorry that it’s actually causing her physical pain. I tear slides her right cheek, she wipes it away before Rumpelstiltskin can see it, though he already knows what she’s feeling, how she hurts. For once he doesn’t comment on her obviously weakened state.

“So, to Camelot then? You know there is a much faster route.”

“I will not use magic, again.” She tells him.

“We shall see, dearie. We shall see.”

* * *

 

Landing in the Enchanted Forest had not been a delight, but they are all safe. Emma could help but feel pleased at how many people decided to tag along, Granny, four of the seven Dwarfs, even Belle. None of them had to come, but they did and Emma is glad because Regina needs this kind of support. She needs to know that people do care about her.

Emma looks around and everyone is pretty much still composing themselves, her parents are fussing over her brother, Robin is checking on Roland, Killian is, well he’s currently staring at her with a kicked puppy expression on his face while Zelena lays on the floor tied to a chair, their landing had obviously knocked her over. Emma makes a gesture for him to assist Zelena. He nods and bends to sit the chair upright.

Emma looks down at Henry who currently has his arm around her and hugs her. “You did it, you got us here, now we can go save mom.” He says, and he smiles for the first time since this whole ordeal with the darkness being released started. Emma smiles, and gives him a squeeze before glancing around again.

“Everyone good?” She asks, and she hears a few grumbles in response.

Snow approaches her. “Okay, so we’re here. Shall we summon Regina?”

“Yeah, but let’s go out and see exactly where we landed.” Emma answers and leads the way out the door, dagger in hand.

Emma spins around glancing at the scenery trying to gauge if she’s been here before. Suddenly, Emma’s view contorts, and the sudden change has made her feel unsteady, but the feeling doesn’t last long as she finds herself looking around a dusty courtyard filled with people. She sees her parents, they’re younger, Granny, Ruby, Mother Superior as the Blue fairy, and Archie in cricket form. She feels, Regina. She feels her rage, her pain, and even while her mind seems to be completely enraptured by Regina’s memory, she is still very aware of her own magic firing up, drawing from Regina’s emotions. The pain out weighs the anger, and Emma feels the ground under her knees. New emotions ensues and it’s not the emotions of the Evil Queen, no these emotions are from Regina; it’s loss, and doubt. Regina thinks she’s a monster, and the truth is she will always be the Evil Queen.

“But it’s not! It’s not you. You are not her. You are better than her, you are stronger than her.” Emma says, and her vision suddenly restores as she feels the dagger being removed from her hand. She’s kneeling on the ground. The sudden change makes her feel so dizzy she falls to the ground.

“Mom! Mom are you okay?” Henry asks her, she can hear the fear in his voice.

David helps her to her feet. “I’m okay, kid.” She tells him.

“What just happened?” David asks her. Emma brushes herself off.

“I shared a memory with Regina.”

“What?” Snow asks, quizzically.

“It was strange, I wasn’t even concentrating. I usually have to at least think of her for our minds to link, but this vision, this memory just hit me suddenly.”

“What happened in the memory?” Snow asks.

“It was so strange, every time I’ve linked with her I could only see what she sees, feel what she’s feeling, but this was the first time I was able to hear what she was saying, at least in the memory. I could see what she saw, feel what she felt. It was so confusing. I felt the emotions of the Evil Queen in the memory, and the emotions of Regina while reliving the memory. They were so conflicting and equally powerful.” Emma tells them.

“Must have been, your hands were glowing, and it didn’t seem safe to touch you. We were calling you, standing right in front of you but it was like you couldn’t see us or hear us.” Snow tells her.

“I couldn’t, I did feel my magic, but I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t control the emotions I was feeling.”

“You never said what the memory it was.” Snow says, curiously.

Emma looks at her mother through glassy eyes. “It was a memory of when she was the Evil Queen, it was the day of her execution.” Emma tells her, and Snow grows silent, and looks away. “Mom, she really meant what she said back then, she wanted you to suffer. Why did you spare her?” Emma asks her.

Knowing what the Evil Queen felt, knowing that she had no remorse for the havoc she created; she wondered how her mother could not condemn her to death.

Snow looks back at her daughter, regarding her. “Regina taught me that nothing is worth doing if you don’t do it with your whole heart. Everything she did, good or evil she did with all of her heart. The emotions she felt, she felt it with everything inside her. I learned to be the same way, from her. Strange as it may seem I loved her with my whole heart, as fiercely as she wanted me gone, I wanted to forgive her. I wanted her forgiveness to. I could never be responsible for ending the life of someone I loved, I’d never be able to live with myself. I didn’t want to give up on her.”

“It didn’t seem that way after the curse broke.” Emma points out and Snow shakes her head.

“You’re right, I was angry. The curse broke, and my only child, my baby girl stood before me 28 years older. I missed everything, and suddenly nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter what she had meant to me. I blamed her and forgot who I was. I stopped wanting to forgive her. I regret that now.” Snow tells her, she’s frowns and her face conveys her sorrow.

“If it’s any consolation, Regina, she’s sorry for who she was, what she said that day. She’s suffering.”

“You should summon her.” Snow tells her.

“Don’t do it!” Belle interrupts, “Don’t summon her, the less magic she uses the better. We must seek her out another way. She can’t be too far. You used a locator spell to bring us to her location. We don’t need to summon her. I suggest we split up and search for her.”

“Good idea, Belle. Granny, you’ll stay behind and watch Zelena, Neal and Roland. The rest of us can split up into two groups, whether we find her or not we regroup back here before the sun sets.” David tells them, and they all nod in agreement.

* * *

 

Memories continue to flood Regina’s mind as she made her way towards Camelot, some more painful than others. She tries not to be constantly surprised by them, they are inside of her, she’s lived them. She keeps telling herself she’s not that person anymore. It’s the past, and she doesn’t live there anymore. She doesn't try to fight the memories, she’s learned that it will only cause more pain. She doesn’t think of Emma, because she’s afraid of what Emma might see if their minds link again. She hasn’t figured out how that happened, but she thinks it may have something to do with the dagger. For now Regina mostly focuses on getting to Camelot and when her memories start to feel like they’re drowning her, she thinks of Henry. She uses her memories of him to block the dark images in her mind. It works for awhile, but the darkness combats her technique with a technique of its own; which has her on her knees screaming the lost of her son as holds his lifeless body to her chest, his trachea crushed. It’s a cruel vision, and Rumpelstiltskin shakes his head in disapproval. He doesn’t remind her apart the pain, about what the darkness will do to her if she continues to fight it; instead he gives her looks of pity, and when a particular nasty memory resurfaces, he giggles with delight. It infuriates her to the point where she can feel her magic boil in her veins. The temptation to use it is great, and Rumpelstiltskin continues to encourage her, but she knows better.

“There are riders approaching, you should kill them and steal a horse and maybe you can make it to Camelot before it gets dark.” Rumpelstiltskin tells her, and she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. He’s not nearly as convincing as he thinks he is. She’s known about the riders for some time now, she heard them, their horses, and she could smell them, she was wondering when they would catch up with her, and was secretly hoping they wouldn’t. Regina had originally heard four rider’s but she only senses three approaching. She hears them slow from a canter to a trot. For a brief moment she thought of hiding, but it was too late for that once she heard the horse slow again, she was within the their sights. She sighs, and hopes they keep the impending conversation brief, and there will be no need for any sort of confrontation. It seems fighting the darkness is not only emotionally exhausting, but physically as well.

“Pardon me, M’lady, are you lost?” A rider asks, stopping his horse, and dismounting him. He leads the horse. Regina doesn’t stop walking nor does she slow her pace.

“No,” is all she offers him. The other two men follow suit, but say nothing. Regina doesn’t bother to look at any of them. She knows they are soldiers, she can hear the sound of the pommel of their swords rub and bump up against their light Armour.

“Are you certain?” He asks, and Regina still doesn’t look at him, but she sees him in her peripheral vision.

“Yes.” She answers, and she knows her short answers will not appease the soldier. “I know where I am going.” She tells him, and he can feel his eyes roam over her body, not in a lustful way, but as if he is searching for something.

“Pardon my intrusion, M’lady. I am Sir Terrin, a knight for the great kingdom of Camelot, with me are Sir Doran and Sir Asher. We don’t see many women walking this road alone, and without supplies. There are many bandits that travel on this road. I am merely concerned for your safety, Ms?”

“I can take care of myself.” Regina tells him, she had no intention of giving him her name.

“Oh just kill him already. He’s just going to continue to annoy you.” Rumpelstiltskin tells her, but she ignores him.

“I see.” Terrin says, “we are on our way to Camelot, if that is your destination may I offer you a lift? The nearest village from here is nearly twenty miles away, you must be tired and require a drink if you made it this far on foot without supplies. There isn’t a lake or stream for miles.”

Rumpelstiltskin was right, the knight is annoying, Regina always had a hard time controlling her temper when she’s being annoyed, so it isn’t a surprise when the darkness inside her clouds her mind with thoughts of slitting the knight’s throat with his own sword, and then quickly running his fellow knights through. Her muscles twitch with anticipation, and she closes her hands into fists, her knuckles are white, and she can feel her nails dig into her palms.

She hears Rumpelstiltskin chuckle. She sighs, stops and turns to the knight. She gives a bright smile, and a nod. “You’re right. I am a little tired from my journey. I was supposed to meet a companion on this road, but they never showed, and I am in a bit of a hurry.”

The knight smiles, and offers her his canteen. She has no thirst but drinks anyway to appease him. His smile never leaves his lips. Regina takes a moment to regard the knights; Sir Terrin, is tall, and very muscular. His blonde hair a bit disheveled, his beard short, and neat, his eyes blue with a glint of what Regina believes to be, happiness. He seems genuine in his desire to help her. She looks over at the other soldiers, she doesn't know which is which; both men have dark brown eyes, one with red curly hair, the other brown straight hair, cut short. The redhead has a goatee, fairly new; she imagines he is the youngest of the three. The brunette is cleanly shaved, both men look at her curiously, but she sees no potential harm. If anything they seem more confused to see her walking alone on the road alone.

She hands the canteen back. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Ms?” He smiles, expectantly.

She returns the smile, “ Ms, is fine.” She tells them, and he half laughs, his eyes bright.

“Very well,” he bows his head, then looks into her eyes, “Ms.” He mounts his horse, and offers his hand to help her onto the horse. Regina ignores the gesture, and mounts the horse on her own. Sir Terrin, laughs and shakes his head. “Maybe i should let you hold the reins.” He says, jokingly.

“I wouldn’t object. I’m sure I’m a superior rider.” Her comment makes all three men laugh.

“You may be right, Ms.” The brunette soldier speaks up.

Sir Terrin glares at him, and points a threatening finger. “Don’t make me knock you from your horse, Asher.”

The brunette smiles brightly, “I’d like to see you try,” He responses, playfully.

The redhead rolls his eyes, “children,” he says, and trots away.

Rumpelstiltskin remains close, but Regina never acknowledges his presence, instead she listens to the banter between the knights, it gives a few moments of relief from the constant torment.

They stop to rest a bit, leading the horses to a nearby stream. They refill their canteens. Regina waits quietly. Sir Terrin approaches her, and offers her the canteen again. She smiles gratefully, though she still has no thirst. He reaches into the satchel on his horse, and pulls out some bread. He offers it to her, and she looks at it knowing it will not be able the sate the hunger that’s been building inside of her since the darkness took her. She wants to decline, but he is smiling brightly at her again. She breaks a piece off, and thanks him with a smile and nod. He breaks off a piece himself, and pops it in his mouth.

“So,” he begins, chewing the bread, and Regina is immediately reminded of both Henry and Emma, but stomps down her desire to scold him for speaking with food in his mouth. “May I ask what business you have in our fair kingdom?”

Before Regina can answer she hears another rider canter in towards them. She had heard him getting close and suspected it had been the fourth rider she heard a ways back.

“Sir Ronan approaches.” Sir Doran bellows.

The rider approaches, and dismounts. Sir Asher and Sir Doran greet him first, grasping his forearm. Regina steps away as the knight approaches Sir Terrin. “It sure took you long enough, I was starting to think we’d make it to Camelot before you were able to catch up.” Terrin says, with a smile, grasping his fellow knight’s forearm in greeting.

Sir Ronan sighs, “I did not expect the man to wake, and when he did, he did nothing but spit madness about a witch that nearly killed him. I had a bit of trouble calming him down. When we got to the nearest town I found out he was wanted. The local authorities detained him until he can be brought to the kingdom in which he is a wanted man.” Sir Ronan told them.

“So a bit of excitement for you then? What luck,” Terrin says with a smile.

Ronan rolls his eyes. “If that’s luck then I wish for none of it.” He replies.

Regina remains quiet, hoping to disappear into the background. She doesn’t know how much this knew knight knows, she thinks maybe the thief on the road may have given him a description. Sir Ronan has yet to see her. “Ronan, we’ve crossed paths with a lady travelling on the road to Camelot. She was without her companion so we or I should say, I insisted she ride with us. Ms, this is our fellow knight Sir Ronan. Ronan, this is Ms ‘won’t tell me her name’.” Terrin introduces.

Ronan turns to Regina, his smile falling from his face. There is a look of surprise on his face, like he recognizes her, and Regina thinks for a moment that the thief did give the knight a description of her. Regina schools her features despite the uneasiness she feels. She doesn’t take her eyes off of Ronan. Terrin pats the knight on his back hard, and it throws him off kilter. “I know she’s exquisite but it’s impolite to stare.” Terrin jokes.

Regina sees Ronan swallow hard. “Right, my apologies. That was very rude of me. It’s just you look like someone I used to know.” He tells her, and she regards him. He is tall, and slender, his hair black, and unkempt, his face is pale with a five o’clock shadow.

She doesn’t recognize him, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m not from around here.” She tells them, but she can tell by the way he clenches his jaw that he doesn’t believe her. He nods anyway, and turns to his fellow knights.

“Shall we continue our journey? We do wish to be home before nightfall.” Ronan says, and they all nod in agreement. They mount up. This time, Terrin allows Regina to mount first and he mounts up behind her. Sir Asher leads the way, Regina follows with Doran behind them, and Ronan at their right. He keeps stealing glances at Regina, but she ignores him. Terrin remains steady with his hands on his thighs instead of on her waist. She appreciates the gesture.

“I believe you were about to tell us the purpose for your visit to Camelot,” Terrin picks right back up, and Regina has to try not to roll her eyes. She knows the knight is just being friendly, and he seems to want to be able to assist her in any way he can. She knows Ronan is listening closely.

“My family, and I desire the assistance of the King,”

“Well then you are in luck, we are the King's most loyal and trusted Knights.” Terrin brags.

Asher lets out a hardy laugh. “He lies to you! The King's most trusted and loyal knights sit at the round table. We do not.”

“I do not lie!” Terrin exclaims. “It is true, M’lady that we do not possess seats at the round table, but as far as knights that are not seated at the round table, the four of us are his most trusted and loyal.” He tells her, proudly.

“Oh I’m certain of it.”

“I will lend you my aid if our King allows it, what assistance do you seek?” Terrin asks. Regina really doesn’t want to get into it, but she sees being vague will only cause him to ask more questions she doesn’t want to answer.

“I rather not say right now, I’m sorry Sir Terrin, I know you just want to help. It’s just really difficult to talk about, I rather only have to explain once.”

“I understand, Ms” He says, but Regina can hear the disappointment in his voice. “Where is your family?” He asks.

Regina sighs, and closes her eyes. “Close, I hope.”

* * *

 

The group continues to ride in silence, Ronan is still eyeing her, it only makes Regina feel uneasy because the looks he gives her are not looks of curiosity, there is anger in his eyes. “You say you’re not from around here, may I ask where you are from?” This is Sir Ronan asking, Regina looks at him, and notices he looks like he already knows the answer. He is waiting to catch her in a lie.

“My home is not in this realm.” Regina says, and believes it to be true, she sees Ronan’s nose flare.

“Is that so? How did you get here?” Ronan asks, and he still looks as if he has all the answers.

“Magic.” Is the answer Regina gives. It was never her intention to reveal so much, but it is something about the way Terrin places his hand on her hip, lightly that makes her trust him with this information.

“Magic brought you here? Here to request help from King Arthur?” Ronan asks her.

Regina sighs again, “yes, it really is a long story, and I desire the King’s presence when I tell it.” She says, and Ronan looks away from her.

He glaze lies on the path ahead. “Understandable.” He says, and it surprises Regina. “Still, I don’t see the harm and at least knowing your name.” He says, and offers her a smile.

Her uneasiness does not go away, and for the first time she seeks out Rumpelstiltskin, and he’s vanished.

“It’s not everyday we come upon beautiful nameless women walking along on a road alone. We are honorable knights, Ms, I assure you. We are sworn to protect the innocent.” His smile never falls. Regina takes her eyes off him to look ahead. She feels Terrin press his hand more firmly on her hip in reassurance, she glances over her shoulder and finds him smiling at her. She smiles and shakes her head, her uneasiness vanishes, her eyes return to focus on the path ahead.

“Regina,” and before she finishes saying her name she prepares to catch the dagger that Ronan throws at her.

“The Evil Queen!” Sir Ronan shouts.

Fuck!

Regina instincts kick in and she knocks Terrin from the horse, and gallops as hard as she can.

Rumpelstiltskin is with her, he’s laughing his ass off. “I told you to kill them.”

“Shut up.”

“You know you can just magic yourself to Camelot.”

“No magic!” She says. The knights are close behind her, their swords drawn.

“You can’t let them get to Camelot before you, they’ll warn the King.”

Regina groans, and gradually slows the horse down. She stops, and turns as the riders approach her.

“Surrender, and I promise to make your death quick.” Ronan tells her, his voice is filled with anger and disgust.

Rumpelstiltskin is laughing behind her,

“I am not the Evil Queen you seek.” Regina tells him.

“Liar!” He charges for towards her, sword drawn.

“Stop!” she yells, throwing her arm up. The horse halts mid gallop, and Ronan is completely motionless from the shoulders down.

Fuck! Regina curses herself for using magic, and she just knows Rumpelstiltskin has a smug look on his face.

“Release him!” Asher demands, he his horse slowly towards her. Terrin dismounts from Doran’s horse. His sword remains at his side.

“Regina.” He says, calmly, and Regina glances at him.

“I am not her.” Regina whispers.

“She’s a liar. I know her! You haven’t changed a bit, your majesty. Well, maybe your wardrobe.” Ronan says. “I can’t believe you don’t remember me, but then again you never cared to remember the lives you destroyed!” He spits, and Regina’s heart sinks. That was her, that was the Evil Queen. “I was your soldier, one of many. I was loyal to my King, to you, and you swore it was his daughter who killed him, but everyone knew it was you, but I blindly remain your loyal solider. I did unspeakable acts in your name, your majesty.” Ronan’s voice begins to crack. “You ordered us to raid my village in search for Snow White, my people told you she never passed there, but you didn’t believe them. I pleaded with you. I told you they were my people, they were loyal to you, but you didn’t listen! So blinded with hatred! You burned my village to the ground, i tried to stop you and what did you do? You had a soldier drag my brother out the only house that was not yet lit on fire and you had his throat slit in front of me.”

Regina closes her eyes, and the memory resurfaces. She drops her hand. She remembers him. She dismounts the horse.

Ronan dismounts, and approaches her. “Do you remember now, your majesty?” Ronan asks, the hate in his voice evident. She nods her head. “Tell them what you did to me afterwards. Tell them what you did to me for my trouble!” He demands.

Regina looks at the men standing before her, they are all off their horses now, and even Terrin has his sword drawn, but looks at her with disbelief. She looks at Rumpelstiltskin, and he gestures for her to continue. There is a pleased smile on his face.

“Tell them!” Ronan shouts.

Regina raises her chin, because its in her character to not show fear or weakness, but she is very afraid, not for her own life, but for theirs. “I had him stripped naked and beaten within an inch of his life, and then I had his soiled, bloody body dumped into the woods outside the castle grounds, to be eaten by wolves.”

“You murdered my family, and left me for dead, and for that, your majesty, I will mount your head above my mantle.” He makes a move for her but she dodges him.

“Wait!” Terrin calls, and Ronan stops his advances. “If you harm her, you’ll be just as bad ass she was.”

“What?!” Ronan shouts, clearly outraged.

“Terrin, what are you saying? She just admitted her crime. She’s a murder. Justice must be done.” Asher reasons.

“And who are we to decide what that justice is? I vote we take her to Camelot and turn her in to our King.”

“Terrin, she’s clearly bewitched you with her dark magic.” Ronan says, and Doran slowly advances on him. Terrin moves to stand on Regina’s side.

“Terrin.” Asher says with disbelief.

“If everything you say is true we should be dead. If she is indeed this Evil Queen who possess magic what’s stopping her from killing us all?” Terrin asks them.

“You fool! She was just waiting until we've gotten her to Camelot, she was probably going to use us to get the King to step down from his throne.”

Regina rolls her eyes. “Like I really need you to do that.”

“You see! She doesn’t deny that was her intentions.” Ronan tells them.

“I didn’t say it was my intentions either!”

“Why should we believe anything that comes out your lying deceitful mouth?!” Ronan asks.

“Yes, dearie why should they believe anything that comes out of your lying deceitful mouth?” Rumpelstiltskin mocks, and Regina glares at him.

“Shut up.” She says to Rumpelstiltskin.

Ronan advances on her ready to strike her down, but Terrin defends her, blocking Ronan’s strike.

“What are you doing? Why are you protecting her?”

“This is not the way, please brother.” Terrin pleads with Ronan.

“You are not my brother.” He says, and pushes Terrin back. “He’s a traitor, he dies along with the witch.” Ronan says. Asher and Doran come to his side ready for a fight.

“I am not a traitor! I just don’t believe this woman meant any harm to us or to our kingdom. We are knights for Camelot, and Evil Queen or not this woman has never posed a threat to our kingdom. It is not our duty to be judge, jury, and executioner for the crimes she committed outside our kingdom. Our only duty is to turn her in.”

“There is no one to turn her in to! She cursed her entire kingdom, and those surrounding it. You heard her say her home is not in this realm!”

“Fine! But you, yourself said you’ve done unspeakable things in her name, who should be your judge, jury and executioner, eh?!” Terrin spits, and Regina is completely taken aback.

“I was under direct orders, her orders!”

“So that makes you innocent?! You are no more innocent than the Evil Queen.”

“You betray me, and you will die along side that murdering bitch.”

“Ronan, maybe we should--” Doran starts to say, but Ronan quickly interrupts.

“Do you betray me now too?” Ronan redirects his sword towards Doran. The redhead shakes his head. “I’ll give you one last chance, Terrin. Lay down your sword and step aside.” Ronan says.

“Do as he says,Terrin.” Regina tells him. He looks at her likes she’s lost her mind.

“I won’t have you sacrifice your life for me. You don’t know the things I’ve done.”

“What you’ve done, who you were doesn’t matter now. The only thing that matters is who you are now, so tell me, are you the Evil Queen?” Terrin asks her.

“No, but I may be something much worse.” Her eyes darken to black and her arm flies out, blowing Terrin far away. She felt it building up, the darkness feeding off her pain, the evil she had done, Rumpelstiltskin tormenting her, egging her on in the background; telling her to kill them before they killed her; telling her that if she let them live she would never get to see her family again, they would keep them from her.

In her last act to resist the darkness she tried to convince Terrin to back away, but the moment he asked her if she was the Evil Queen, all she could hear was Rumpelstiltskin's voice telling her she was much worse. The knight’s charge her, and she easily dodges every blow. There is a greater fight going on inside of her, the desire to rip them to shreds is strong, but there is still some hope, and that hope is what she uses to resist the temptation. She starts to think they are suicidal after she knocks them on their asses over and over again, but they just keep getting back up, and charging with what she imagines is all their might.

‘Pathetic’, she thinks. They are so weak. She should just end this. She magics a sword, Regina had been on the defense, and now she was on the offense, with every thrust of her blade she lands a blow, nothing too detrimental that would cause them to bleed out. The dark part of her wants to kill them slowly, and painfully, while the part of her that still fights the darkness wants to prevent any real harm. Her internal struggle is the greater battle.

Her opponents are getting tired, but they are relentless. Regina is also tired. She’s tired of fighting the darkness, in one final attempt to save what’s left of her true self, she uses her magic to send the men flying back. Doran and Asher lay still on the ground and she doesn’t know whether or not she has killed them.

Ronan gets back up. He strides slowly toward her, out of breath. His head is bleeding, there is blood dripping from his shoulder, his neck, his left leg. He’s limping, and can barely raise his sword. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime, stuck in this realm, your curse kept me from living any semblance of a life, until it was broken, and I could finally leave that shit hole of a kingdom. I heard you were here before, spent a year here in your old kingdom. I so wanted to see you, to see for myself that you still existed. I couldn’t fathom how you were still alive if the curse had truly been broken. You should have been burned at the stake. Who was the idiot who showed you mercy? Probably Snow White. You were right about her, she’s a coward, but not me.” He charges her, and she parries, knocking his sword out his hand, and she plunges her hand into his chest, and rips out his heart.

Regina hears Rumpelstiltskin’s giddy laughter, but it doesn't distract her. 

Ronan looks at her with disgust. “Do it! Crush it! Be the monster I know you are!” He spits in her face, and she snarls at him, and squeezes his heart. He screams.

“No mercy,” she whispers in his ear as he howls in pain. She squeezes harder.

“Regina, stop!”

* * *

 

Emma becomes frustrated as her search for Regina turns up fruitless. The sun is nearly setting, and they are no closer to finding her.

“Emma, honey, maybe we should head back, try again at first light,” Snow recommends.

Emma shakes her head in the negative, “No, she’s on the move. If we go back now it will take even longer to find her. We need to find her before she completely gives into the darkness, before all hope is lost.”

“What makes you think it hasn’t already?” Hook asks. Emma looks at him, his eyes are sad and angry all at once, and she knows it’s all her doing. She doesn’t have time to feel guilty, and there is no point in lying to them, to herself anymore.

“Because if she had, I would have felt it.” She says, but her eyes are looking past him. “If you guys want to go back you can, but I want to keep going.” Emma tells them.

“No, we’re with you. We’ll find Regina together.” Snow says, and smiles at Emma, she returns the smile, and doesn't pull away when Snow takes her hand as the continue their journey. They walk ahead of the others.

“Have you tried to link with her? You know, to try to determine her location.”

“Yeah, but i think she’s blocking me. I think she’s afraid that I’ll see something else from her past.”

“Oh… She thinks your feelings for her will change if you see the person she use to be.” Snow says, and Emma whips her head to the side, and stares at her mother in surprise.

“Don’t look at me like that, despite what Regina continues to call me, I am no idiot. If anyone's an idiot it’s the two of you.” Snow tells her, and Emma gapes at her. Snow closes Emma’s mouth, and pats her shoulder.

“How are you not flipping out about this?” Emma asks her mother.

“For one, I never thought you or Regina would ever figure it out. I mean, come on it was right there in front of you, the both of you, and you both ignored it. Dummies.”

“Mom,” Emma whispers, shocked her mom called her dumb.

Snow shrugs. “I was a little creeped out at first, really, I mean, she was married to my father after all, but then again if i wasn’t creeped out about a man marrying a girl whose own father was younger than him, then I had no right to be creeped out about my daughter falling in love with my former stepmother.”

“Can you not ever call her that, like ever.”

Snow smiles, “okay, sweetheart, how about former nemesis?”

“Whatever, just not stepmother.” Emma says, and shakes the thought out of her head.

Snow chuckles, and looks over her shoulder than back at Emma. “How do you plan on dealing with those two? I suspect Killian knows something is going on, but Robin seems oblivious.”

“That’s because he’s an idiot.”

“Emma, that’s not nice.”

“Mom, cut the shit, you don't like his ass anymore than I do.”

“Shhh… not so loud, they are not that far behind us.”

“You started it.” Emma points out, and Snow rolls her eyes.

“I know he’s her soulmate and everything--”

“Says who, some bullshit fairy dust? We both know how letting magic determine our destiny kinda screws us in the end. I choose my own destiny, and Regina needs to choose her own too.”

“I think she has, because she saved you, and I've never been more grateful. She chose you, sweetheart, I’m sure of it. Besides, Robin is hardly good enough for her.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

It’s not too much longer before a wagon pulled by two horses slows down, stopping the group. The driver is an old white haired man, with a full white beard, his companion an older woman who looks to be his wife, her hair is more gray then white, and is pulled into a tight bun, she’s a frail looking woman. “Hey there.” The man, calls down to them. If their attire surprises him he doesn't show it. “You folks be careful along this road, last village we passed there were tales of a witch walking along this road, they say she nearly strangled a man to death without even touchin’ ‘em.” He tells, them. His wife nods in agreement

. “Sounds like dark magic to me, beware.” The old woman warns.

“Regina,” Emma whispers, then looks up to the couple. “Do you know where, how far away from here did someone spot the ‘witch’?”

“Can’t say I do, not too far I suppose, word travels fast around these parts. Town back says, a knight from Camelot picked the man up, turned him in the local authorities. He was a wanted man, you see. Stupid foul probably tried to rob her.”

“I say he got what was coming to him.” The old woman says. “If that witch didn’t get to him when she did, it coulda been us he robbed next.”

“Well thank goodness that’s not the case, and thank you for the warning.”

“No problem, safe travels.” The man say, and snaps the reins, making the horses pull the wagon along.

“Seems we’re on the right road.”

“Do you really think they were talking about Regina?” Robin asks.

“I do.” Emma answers.

They continue their journey up the road, Emma figures that maybe Regina figured out that Merlin was the only one who could possibly help her, so she’s heading to the one place where someone might know where to find him, Camelot. Emma keeps walking, her eyes focus on the path ahead, she thinks of Regina despite the fact that she can feel Hook’s eyes boring the back of her head. Suddenly, Emma starts to feel a strong tingling sensation on her right hip. The dagger is hidden under her sweater inside a scabbard, tucked into her jeans. She lifts her sweater, and removes the dagger. Regina’s name is glowing, and Emma doesn’t even need to concentrate to be pulled in.

She drowns in Regina’s emotions; fear, anxiety, regret, anger, hate, and pain, so much pain, and Regina is fighting it, but she’s losing. Emma feels everything, she feels the dark magic burning through Regina’s veins, she feels the relief Regina feels when she draws blood, the excitement when she successfully dodges her opponents advances. Emma feels the darkness winning. She snaps out of her connection once she sees the heart Regina has pulled out of her attackers chest. She blinks a few times, her mother has her arms around her.

“Emma, Emma” Snow calls her, and holds her chin, turning her head. Emma looks at her.

“Regina needs me.” Emma disappears in a cloud of gray smoke.

“Regina, stop!” Emma yells, usually poofing around makes her a little dizzy, but for some reason she’s completely balanced.

Regina stops squeezing, looks at Emma, her black eyes returning to a soft brown as they pool with unshed tears. She looks at the heart in her hand, and immediately shoves it back into the man’s chest. Emma puts the dagger back in the scabbard under her sweater, and rushes forward. She pulls Regina into her arms, and holds her there as she sobs.

The man whose heart Regina nearly crushed has passed out. Emma pulls back to take a look at Regina. The tears are pouring out her eyes. “I’m a monster,” Regina tells her.

Emma hold her face in her hands. “No, no, this wasn’t you. This is not your fault. You, you wouldn’t do this if you could help it.”

“Wouldn’t I? You saw it with your own eyes. You felt it, didn't you? You had to have.”

“No, the Regina Mills I know, the Regina Mills I love, isn’t capable of this, You are not the Evil Queen anymore.”

“I’m worse.” Regina says, and buries her face in the crook of Emma’s neck, Emma holds her tighter.

“I’ve got you, and I won't let the darkness take you from me. We can fight it together.”

* * *

 

Regina has no memory of how she got to Granny’s diner, the last thing she remembers is Emma holding her, and telling her that they would fight the darkness together, after that her mind had been filled with images of death, the whispers in her head became louder, and she couldn’t hear or see anything outside her own head.

She barely feels it when Emma pulls her to her feet, but then Emma's standing in front of her, her eyes are filled with so much love. Emma Swan loves her and has told her twice. She feels Emma’s hand on her cheek.

“Hey,” Emma says, softly.

“Hey.” Regina says back, and Emma smiles brightly.

“You’re back. I lost you there for a moment.”

“What happened?” Regina asks her.

“Well, you kind of cried yourself out. You were completely zoned out, incoherent. I poofed you here, then I went back for the four knights. They would have died if we left them. Mom and Granny patched them up, but their conditions are critical. I think they may pull through though.” Emma tells her.

Regina looks around, and spots Henry threw the window, he’s outside talking with David and Snow. “Does he know?” Regina asks.

Emma shakes her head. “I didn’t tell him, I don’t think he wanted to know. Come on, he’s been waiting to see you. I wouldn’t let him see you while you were all zoned out.”

“Thank you, Emma.” She says, palming Emma’s left cheek, letting her thumb run over Emma’s cheekbone. Emma takes her hand, and kisses her palm. Their fingers lace together as Emma leads them out the diner. The second she steps out, Henry turns to her, his faces brightens.

“Mom!” He exclaims, and there is relief and excitement in his voice. His body collides with hers, and she nearly tumbles over. She squeezes him tight, and kisses the side of his head. “I’m so glad Ma found you, and you’re okay. You’re okay.” He tells her, but she’s not okay, not really. She doesn’t tell him that, it’s not his burden to carry. It didn’t matter much anyway because in the moment , with him in her arms, she feel pretty okay. Henry kisses his mother on the cheek, and she beams at him. He steps out out of her embrace, and gives her a once over, then cocks and eyebrow. She laughs a little, because this boy is not her biological son, but no one would know that looking at him right now. He was definitely pulling off one of her faces.

“I wanted to blend in.” She tells him, and shrugs.

“You look… cool mom, totally cool.”

“You think so?” Regina asks, she is smiling, and she can barely hear the whispers in her head.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “I’m going to go see if Roland is up from his nap, he wanted to see you.” Henry tells her, and she nods. He hugs her again before going inside.

David and Snow stand a few feet away. Regina regards them. “David, Snow.”

“Regina,” David says, and nods.

Snow puts her hand on her hip, “so Emma tells me some guy calls me an idiot and a coward, and you rip his heart out?” Regina gulps, she sees a mischievous glint in Snow’s eyes. “I knew you loved me.” Snow says, and beams.

Regina can’t help it, she laughs, and she laughs hard. She has to, because if she doesn’t she’ll cry. They all laugh with her as Snow pulls her into a hug she did not expect, but feels she must need because suddenly she feels lighter. It doesn’t last because a moment later she hears Robin call her name. Snow releases her, and she sincerely misses the embrace. It shocks her, but she can’t focus on it because Robin is looking at her expectantly, like she should be running and leaping in his arms. She doesn’t, she stands there stiffly.

“Robin,” she says, and he walks over to her and pulls her in his arms. He tries to kiss her, but she pulls away, finding the ground beneath feet quite interesting. He clears his throat.

“I’m glad we found you.” He says, and she wants to tell him that there was no ‘we’, he wasn’t apart of finding anyone, it was Emma, and Emma alone.

It’s not the expression on Emma’s face that tells her she feels the same way, she can hear Emma, she's thinking, _‘you found no one, fuckboy.’_

Regina stifles a laugh, covering her mouth.

“Now that we are all physically and mentally present shouldn’t we be talking about our next move?” Hook intervenes.

Regina had no idea where he came from, and honestly she isn't sure why he’s even here. She knows there is no way he didn’t hear Emma tell her that she loved her.

“Yes, we should discuss our next move.” Robin chimes in, “I hear Camelot is the place to go if you are seeking to find the whereabouts of Merlin.” He says, and Regina keeps her mouth covered to hide her smile at Emma’s annoyance.

She clears her throat. “Yes, I was headed there, and I hoped you were to,” she says, looking at Emma. “But I wasn’t seeking Merlin. I need Excalibur, the dagger was cut from it’s blade, if i reunite them, the darkness can be removed.”

“How do you know this?” Snow asks.

Regina sighs, and tries to school her features. “All Dark Ones have this knowledge.”

“Really? Then why--” Snow starts, and Regina knows Emma is shaking her head at Snow.

Regina knows that Emma is picking up on her emotions, she can hear Emma’s thoughts. It seems automatic now.

Emma clears her throat. “Speaking of, “ she removes the dagger, “you should have this.” Emma hold it out to her. She shakes her head. “Take it, Regina.” Emma says, and of course she does because she can’t stop herself.

“Goodie,” she hears Rumpelstiltskin say, “it will be much easier to let go with that gem in your possession.”

 _‘Oh fuck you’,_ she thinks, and Emma looks at her in shock.

There are way too many people in her head. ‘Not you, the imp’ she thinks, and gestures to Rumpelstiltskin forgetting Emma can’t see him, but she gets it anyway.

“I shouldn’t have this. As much as it pains me to say, I can't be trusted.”

“Regina,” Emma says, and Regina shakes her head.

“I need to know that if I lose this war going on inside me there will be someone here to stop me, to do what needs to be done.” Regina takes the scabbard out from under Emma’s sweater. She puts the dagger inside of it, and hands it out to David. Everyone looks at her in shock.

“Me?” David asks.

“I know if the time ever comes you’ll do what needs to be done. I trust you to protect this family at all costs.” Regina tells him, and he nods.

She looks over at Emma, and she can not only see the hurt in her eyes, she can feel it in waves. Her green eyes are glassy, and Regina’s heart swells painfully in her chest.

 _‘It’ll never come to that_ ’ Emma thinks, _’I won’t let it.’_

 _‘I know you won’t.’_ Regina thinks.

_‘I love you, Regina.’_

_‘I love you too, Emma.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Try not to be too pissed about the way I ended this. I wanted to leave it open so I could make it into a series following along with the SQ prompts for this years summer SQ week. I know I won't be able to work all the prompts into the story, but I can at least fit two more in. It may take a while, and I'll need a lot of inspiration to start a third part to this series. I really want to collaborate with another writer on the next installation, I think it would motivate me to get it done, but unfortunately I don't personally know any Swanqueen ff writers.  
> I hope you enjoyed this addition to SQ week 2018.  
> Thanks for reading!!!!


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